Hindawi

Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Volume 2020, Article ID 4793058, 2 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/4793058

Editorial
New Discovery of Curcumin Combination Therapy and
Action Mechanism

Chongshan Dai ,1 Xiuying Zhang,2 and Keyu Zhang3

1
Department of Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Harry Hines Blvd, Dallas, TX 5323, USA
2
Department of Basic Veterinary Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin,
Heilongjiang 150030, China
3
Key Laboratory of Veterinary Chemical Drugs and Pharmaceutics, Ministry of Agriculture,
Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, No. 518 Ziyue Road, Minhang District,
Shanghai 200241, China

Correspondence should be addressed to Chongshan Dai; chongshan.dai@utsouthwestern.edu

Received 24 February 2020; Accepted 24 February 2020; Published 10 March 2020

Copyright © 2020 Chongshan Dai et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited.

Curcumin (diferuloylmethane, a yellow pigment in spice
turmeric) is a natural product polyphenol extracted from
the rhizome of Curcuma longa. Curcumin has been
shown to elicit a strong antioxidant activity by directly
scavenging free radicals, even more effectively than vi-
tamin E. It has been widely used in pharmaceutical and
medical applications based on the broad spectrum of
biological actions, including antibacterial, antiviral, an-
tifungal, and anti-inflammatory activities. Direct cur-
cumin targets include cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2),
lipoxygenase, nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2,
toll-like receptor (TLR) 4, transforming growth factor-
beta (TGF-β)/smad signaling pathway, focal adhesion
kinase, glutathione, glycogen synthase kinase- (GSK-) 3
β, phosphorylase-3 kinase, xanthine oxidase, pp60 src
tyrosine kinase, and ubiquitin isopeptidase, which play
important roles in oxidative stress, inflammation,
autophagy, ferroptosis, and apoptosis. Therefore, cur-
cumin has been proposed to increase the therapeutic
efficiency of some drugs, albeit the potential molecular
mechanisms remain unclear. Importantly, available
preclinical and phase I/II data suggest that curcumin is
well tolerated and has a good safety profile. A classic
example is the combination between curcumin and
polymyxins whereby in addition to its synergistic anti-
microbial activity, curcumin could potentially ameliorate
polymyxin-induced unwanted neurotoxicity. With the
proposal of concept on precision medicine in the clinic,
the underlying molecular mechanism and potential
target for the combination therapy are much emphasized.
In this special issue, investigators contribute original
research articles and review articles that would facilitate the
understanding of the basic mechanisms of curcumin as well
as the development of new and promising complementary
and alternative strategies for curcumin combination.
Wang et al. reported the neuroprotective effect of cur-
cumin against oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation
(OGD/R) injury in HT22 neuronal cells. They suggested that
curcumin can protect OGD/R-induced neuronal apoptotic
cell death by inhibiting intracellular ROS accumulation and
mitochondria dysfunction. Knockdown of SOD2 by RNA
interference (RNAi) attenuated the protective effect of
curcumin on OGD/R-induced neuronal cell death, sug-
gesting that SOD2 may be a target of curcumin death.
Wang and Chen reviewed the bidirectional action of
curcumin and curcuminoids as well as synthetic curcumin
analog on angiogenesis based on the current research
findings. They review paper summarized the antiangio-
genesis effect of curcumin. Curcumin could regulate mul-
tiple factors, including proangiogenesis factor vascular
endothelia growth factor (VEGF), matrix metalloproteinase
(MMPs), and fibroblast growth factors (FGF), both in vivo
and in vitro, and promote angiogenesis under certain cir-
cumstances via these factors.
2 Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

The relationship between gut microbiota and human Acknowledgments

diseases has been a major topic of interest for many studies.
Pan and his colleagues reviewed the effects of gut microbiota The editors thank the academic editors Mario Ledda and
in the pharmacological effect of natural products including Jamal A. Mahajna’s editorial contribution in the process of
ginseng, bebeerine, and curcumin. Natural products may peer-review. The editors express their gratitude to all authors
cause changes in the composition of intestinal microbiota, who made this special issue possible. We hope this collection
microbial metabolites, intestinal tight junction structure, of articles will be useful to the scientific community.
and mucosal immunology. On the contrary, these changes
will eventually result in the exertion of the pharmacological Chongshan Dai
effects by treatment with these natural products. This is a Xiuying Zhang
new field for the investigation of curcumin’s pharmaco- Keyu Zhang
logical effects, and the potential molecular mechanism needs
further investigation.
Curcumin has been widely used as a supplementary
agent against drug, carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), and etha-
nol-induced liver injury. Inhibiting the TGF-β pathway
usually was considered as a potential target of curcumin.
Zhang et al.’s results implied that a variant of rs17687727 in
TGF-β receptor-associated protein 1 (TGFBRAP1) (a
member of TGF-β transmembrane receptors) may influence
the susceptibility to antituberculosis drug-induced liver
injury in first-line antituberculosis combination treatment in
the Han Chinese population in a dependent manner. This
result provides the information for potential candidate
treatment drugs including curcumin.
Natural products are an important source of drug re-
search for the future. A novel application of natural sub-
stances is combination therapy, which consists of the
administration of two or more substances, such as conven-
tional chemotherapeutics plus a natural compound or mul-
tiple natural compounds at a time. Investigation of potential
targets is urgent toward the understanding of molecular
mechanisms and the development of key new formulations.
Gong et al. reported an ancient herbal mixture, named
Danggui Buxue Tang (DBT1155), which comprises four herbs
(e.g., Angelicae Sinensis Radix, Astragali Radix, Jujuba
Fructus, and Zingiberis Rhizoma Recens in a weight ratio of
36 : 30 : 15 : 20), on the effects of preventing obesity in an in
vitro model by using mouse 3T3-L1 fibroblast cells. Their
results showed that DBT1155 could actuate brown fat-specific
gene activations, such as peroxisome proliferator-activated
receptor (PPARc), mitochondrial uncoupling protein 1
(UCP1), and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor c
coactivator 1 (PCG1α). Meanwhile, DBT1155 could decrease
lipid accumulation by triggering AMPK signaling.
Tian et al. reported Cynomorium songaricum extract
exhibited potential therapeutic effect on neuroprotection of
ovariectomized rats, and its effect was possibly exerted by
p-cAMP-response element binding protein (CREB)/brain-
derived neurotrophic factor- (BDNF-) mediated down-
regulation of extracellular regulated protein kinases (ERK)/
p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38MAPK).
We hope that this special issue can be really special for
scientists studying the pharmacological effects of curcumin
and discoveries of curcumin combination therapy.

Conflicts of Interest
The editors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.